Friday August 7th 2026
Local Midlothian writer Kari Hall (photo by Lisa Emily Petersen)
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
Bonnyrigg writer Kari Hall has made their Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut with a dark comedy that blends sharp humour and emotional honesty to explore the lasting impact of sexual assault against the backdrop of working-class life in Midlothian.
Equal parts funny and heartbreaking, Hame. Teeth. CLUB is set in Dalkeith Miners Club and follows a group of working-class young people, using humour to tell a story centred on the aftermath of sexual assault.
Speaking to the Midlothian View following the show’s debut night, Kari explained that basing the play in their hometown allowed them to pull on real life characters and experiences from their youth, debuting the festival with a show close to their heart after moving to London six years ago.
They explained: “When I first began writing I was trying to write what people think you should write. So I just started to write more about what I know, the people I know and the people I grew up with.
“I always like to make my work authentic, I like to put those voices on stage. I am trying to portray Scottish culture and a particular tim in the 2010s when I was growing up and the nightlife culture. I just wanted to put that on stage aswell.”
“There are references like Dalkeith Miners Club and Bonnyrigg Hill throughout the show. When I first moved to London people would ask where I am from and I would always say Edinburgh but in the past year I’ve started saying Bonnyrigg.”
Now writing more of what they feel passionate about, Kari has put together a performance that discusses an important topic and questions society, whilst comedical playing on topics such as youth culture, gossip within small towns and growing up in Midlothian.
Hame. Teeth. CLUB is a one actor performance, centering around a girl named Morgan who is a hedonistic party girl who lives for her weekend s at Dalkeith Miner’s Club but after experiencing a sexual assault, she is forced to confront her lack of ambition; her personal chaos; and the emptiness that reans when you are believed but noone stands by your side.
Performed by Rhiannon Lucy Bird, her acting alongside Kari’s writing creates an interesting jumpy script that allows for the character to discuss something traumatic then jump straight into a joke with the plot often containing flashbacks.
Actress Rhiannon Lucy Bird perforomibg in Hame. Teeth. CLUB
Despite this, the plot still remains straightforward and easy to track with flashbacks only adding more depth to the story rather than taking away from the serious topics discussed.
The comedy arises from the characters and their relationships rather than the assault itself, allowing the production to tackle a difficult subject with warmth and authenticity.
When asked about the process of approaching writing something that centers around assault and the aftermath, Kari explained that their writing is similar to her personality of using ‘humour as a common mechanism’ to get through bad situations.
She explained: “It’s just who I am as a person. I very much use humour as a common mechanism and this is how we get out of when shit things are happening.
“This is how you get out of it if you use comedy and I think that’s kind of my approach in everything I write. It’s just like a really terrible thing happened so let’s make a joke about it.”
Alongside the complex and creative plot, the performance has a very high level of production with the use of lighting and music making up for the lack of cast and on stage props. Despite the show only containing one actor, this doesn’t take away or affect the show’s plot with Rhiannon commanding the stage with strong acting that perfectly portrays the well written plot.
Kari explained that the script was three years in the making, with a slate style self-tape auditioning process in the aim to find an actor with an east coast accent.
Kari added: “It had to be a Scottish working class actor but the call was open to anyone with an East Coast accent but I don’t think we realised until we got into the audition room how important it was.
“The language at play was so specific that you have to be able to wrap yourself around it. With Rhiannon within 30 seconds I knew it was her.”
Described as playing with the cheeky and witty nature of Scottish humour, the show is written in a blend of colloquial Scots and English language, which made Edinburgh-born Rhiannon perfect for the role.
Bonnyrigg writer Kari Hall during her interview with the Midlothian View
After finding the perfect actor, Kari knew it was their time to make her Fringe debut after 10 years in the performing space. After receiving a text from her producer at last year’s Fringe asking her if they wanted to take their show to the Underbelly.
According to Kari, Underbelly staged only around four Scottish productions last year and wanted to increase the number of homegrown shows in 2026.
Highlighting her excitement to finally take their work to the festival, Kari explained that they used to tag along with friends every Fringe with the dream of one day bringing their own work to the festival stage.
“Last year I came up for the end of the Fringe and I was going to all these closing parties and I thought that I don’t deserve to be here, I was just tagging along with them so this year I am actually doing it”, Kari explained.
Growing up in Bonnyrigg, Kari got into the arts late into her childhood around 15 years old, performing in theatre alongside writing. Craving a creative outlet when growing up, it was after a conversation with their teacher when they took the leap into the arts, completing an HND at college then making the move to London.
Speaking to Kari following their first night, they explained that the show went very well, which was well reflected in the audience during the show. Having many friends in the audience alongside them, Kari reflected on the feeling of seeing the show that is three years in the making performed at the world’s largest annual festival.
Explaining her gratitude behind the opportunity, they added: ‘The Fringe can be very isolating for people who are from Edinburgh and the outskirts due to all the tourists and so on. So, if you actually put these stories on stage and use the international platform to promote local stories it actually does a lot for the community and brings people in that should have a space in this festival.”
‘Hame. Teeth. CLUB’ is a must-see 5/5 show at this year’s festival, exploring a dark subject matter in a creative way that shines light on serious issues whilst opening a door for comedy and a reflection of working-class life.
You can watch ‘Hame. Teeth. CLUB’ every day at 5:10pm at Underbelly Cowgate until August 30th with tickets available to purchase at https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/hame-teeth-club.
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